‘There’s this crater that’s left in you’: Melissa Pullinger traces grief’s deep impact
Melissa Pullinger was just 20 years of age when her mother Mim passed away. Since then the young writer and performer has channelled her awkward, beautiful and embarrassing experiences of grief into a new one-woman show, Meteors, which premieres at this year’s Adelaide Fringe.
Adelaide actor and writer Melissa Pullinger was just 20 years old when her mum Mim passed away from a rare and aggressive malignant internal melanoma. As Pullinger grappled with her overwhelming grief, she noticed that people were suddenly awkward around her.
“People didn’t know what to say,” Pullinger tells InReview. “Grief isn’t part of the conversation, particularly for young people, so a lot of the time things just go unsaid. I think people become scared to touch or talk about grief, it can be quite taboo because people don’t want to say the wrong thing.
“One of the things that I realised was the first funeral I ever went to was my Mum’s, and I imagined, if you lose a parent when you’re older, as horrific as it always will be, you might understand grief a little more. Or, if you go to a funeral, you know what to expect. I didn’t know the process. I didn’t know how it worked.”
As a way of coping with her grief, Pullinger began documenting her experiences and emotions, and she has crafted these moving and personal observations into a new Adelaide Fringe production, Meteors.
The one-woman show is presented by the CRAM Collective, an independent theatre group Pullinger co-founded alongside Meteors‘ director, Connor Reidy, and creative collaborator, Ren Williams. For Meteors, the CRAM team is also joined by sound designer Will Spartarlis and Pullinger’s brother, Connor, as a creative collaborator.
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Reidy has also experienced grief early when his mother Alison passed away from mesothelioma a few days before his 25th birthday. His grief has also been incorporated into the Meteors narrative.
“I think following the loss of my mum, I did start to look out,” Reidy says. “Meteors, once they start hurtling, there’s no stopping it, even if you want to, just like the illness, the grief, there’s no stopping it.
“You’re not in control of that, and also the meteor leaves a crater and we’ve said that’s like the feeling of grief. There’s this crater that’s left in you, and you carry that for the rest of your life.”
Since its inception in 2021 the CRAM Collective, comprised of graduates of the Flinders Drama Centre, has created six theatre productions and four short films.
“The reason we called ourselves CRAM was because we’re interested in cramming the most interesting and exciting creatives in a room for each project, so we bring other creatives to work with us on each project,” Reidy says.
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Suffering grief at such a young age has “really shaped who we are” adds Reidy, explaining that he and Pullinger were able to speak a common language in the rehearsal room, tapping into the awkward moments that grief creates.
“Melissa has done a really good job of writing a whole heap of different moments,” he says. “So, it’s everything from the funeral to being bombarded with lasagnas by the neighbours, and having to bring up that your mother is dead on a first date and how awkward that can be. So, Meteors really looks at the whole spectrum of the experience of grief.
“It’s really shaped who we are as humans and who we are as artists, and now we want to make work that speaks to that experience. We want to make a piece of work that taps into it and pulls the curtain back on how all- consuming grief can be, but also, at times, how it can be awkward and funny and embarrassing and beautiful and loving as well.”
Meteors will be performed at The Mill’s intimate black-box theatre, The Breakout, after being developed through The Mill’s 2025 Centre Stage Residency, presented in partnership with Adelaide Fringe through their Arts Industry Collaborations program.
Adelaide Fringe Executive Director Programs and Development Jo O’Callaghan says the Centre Stage Residency is “such an important opportunity for South Australian artists, providing them with place, space and support to develop and present new work for an Adelaide Fringe season”.
“We’re thrilled to be partnering with The Mill again in 2026 and supporting The CRAM Collective’s new show Meteors as part of their Centre Stage Residency. We’re very excited to see what this new show brings.”
Pullinger hopes the show will “crack open” those conversations that once went unsaid. “Grief is unfortunately a universal experience and something that we’re all going to go through. After seven years of feeling like I had to tip-toe around my grief, I’m looking forward to sharing this authentic show with audiences, as it’s honest and full of heart.
“I think this is a personal story, but it’s also a universal story,” Pullinger reflects. “I think Mum would be proud of what I have created with this show.”
Meteors will be performed from February 19 – March 7 at The Mill
This story is part of a series of articles being produced by InReview with the support of Adelaide Fringe
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